Authorities have raided the North Carolina home of suspected would-be Trump assassin Ryan Wesley Routh — whose pickup truck has a Biden-Harris sticker on the bumper.
It’s not clear if the bulletproof vest-clad officers found anything inside the Greensboro house, which they surrounded, made sure was empty and searched in the dark late Sunday, according to video published by the Times, a UK outlet.
“Police! Make yourself seen!” an officer yelled as authorities made their way inside with flashlights and drawn handguns.
Law enforcement arrested Routh, 58, after he allegedly stalked former President and current GOP nominee Donald Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course Sunday afternoon.
Routh had an AK-47-style assault rifle, the barrel of which a Secret Service agent spotted poking out of a bush two holes ahead of where Trump was, according to the Daily Mail.
The agent opened fire on Routh, who was within 300 to 500 yards of the former president — well within the rifle’s effective range.
The bullets missed Routh but scared him off, officials said. The suspect fled but was collared soon after, based on a golf course witness’s description of his car, during a traffic stop on I-95.
Here’s what we know about the assassination attempt on Trump in Florida:
- Former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach on Sept. 15, 2024.
- Trump sent out a statement to supporters soon after to report that he was “SAFE AND WELL.”
- The suspect — identified as Ryan Routh, 58, of Hawaii — was able to get within 300 to 500 yards of Trump at a chain link fence on the edge of the course, where he had an AK-47 and a GoPro camera set up, apparently to record the planned shooting.
- Routh has a history of supporting progressive causes online and has made 19 donations to Democratic candidates since 2019.
- A Secret Service agent spotted and opened fire on Routh as he put his gun through the fence. The suspect fled and was arrested on I-95 a short time later.
- According to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, Trump’s security detail was lighter because he isn’t a sitting president — despite the previous attempt on his life in July.
Routh — who voted for Trump in 2016 but turned on him after the Jan. 6 riots, among other things — left a voluminous online presence that showed support for figures on both sides of the aisle, including Bernie Sanders, Tulsi Gabbard and Nikki Haley.
Eventually, the suspect began supporting the Biden-Harris ticket, which he endorsed with a bumper sticker on his white pickup truck at his Hawaii home, the Mail said.
He registered as an unaffiliated voter in North Carolina in 2012, voter records show. He most recently voted in person during the state’s March Democratic primaries.
Routh has also made 19 small donations since 2019 to ActBlue, a Democratic political action committee, campaign finance records show.
On Monday morning, a shackled Routh was led into federal court in Florida to face charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, according to Politico. It wasn’t immediately clear what his felony conviction was for.
The initial criminal complaint didn’t include specific charges that he tried to kill the former president, the outlet said.
The potential assassin — who has a lengthy rap sheet that includes a 2002 charge for possessing a weapon of mass destruction — also had in his possession backpacks and a GoPro camera with which he planned to film the shooting, officials said.
Follow the latest on the foiled assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Florida:
- Trump ‘safe and well’ after being targeted by would-be assassin with AK-47 assault rifle for second time in 2 months
- Shots fired near Trump live updates: Would-be shooter was 300-500 yards away, came with scope and GoPro — ‘Intent on filming’
- Trump assures he’s ‘SAFE AND WELL’ after Secret Service fires at man armed with assault rifle at president’s golf resort
- Trump’s security at golf course was lighter because he’s not sitting prez: official
- Demands mount for Trump to get same protection as Biden — after yet another assassination plot
- Would-be Trump assassin ID’d as Ryan Routh, 58, of Hawaii: sources
Routh’s neighbors in North Carolina have described him as “a little cuckoo” but said they were still surprised he tried to take Trump’s life.
“I mean, trying to shoot Trump? That’s a lot,” a resident said.
“I would have never guessed, and I would have swore up and down, ‘No, that’s not him,’ ” she said.
“I just can’t believe it. I mean, if I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I mean the pictures and stuff and all, then I wouldn’t be able to believe that.”
Routh said on social media in 2020 that he voted for Trump four years before but had hoped he would be a “different and better” president than he was a candidate.
“We all were greatly disappointed and it seems you are getting worse and devolving; are you retarded,” Routh wrote at the time. “I will be glad when you gone.”
He even self-published a 2023 book — “Ukraine’s Unwinnable War” — in which he described Trump as a “fool” and a “buffoon” for several of his actions and policies.
In his book, Routh added that he got “so tired of people asking me if I am a Democrat or Republican as I refuse to be put in a category.”
With Post wires